What you see here is something we probably should have done years ago. Our old wood fireplace has today been replaced with a gas fireplace insert. This guy is an Avalon DVS GreenSmart Gas Insert, from North Country Stoves. The installers got this baby stuffed into the old fireplace in a day. Not bad, considering they had to run gas piping all around the house. Anyhow, the fireplace has a remote control, just like a TV. Only one channel, though. You can adjust the flame just like a volume control. Has a fan, and a thermostat, so you can set a temp, and let the fireplace keep the room temp at what you pick. The unit will run with no electricity, either, which for me was the deal maker. I couldn't see the point in getting something that wouldn't keep us warm if the power went out.

My loving wife has desired a gas fireplace for years, and we finally did decide to take the plunge. I really like wood fireplaces, but well, she doesn't. Admittedly, the ash and hassle of storing the wood is something I tend to forget about when thinking wood fireplace. Also, I must admit, even though we had a wood fireplace for what, 15 years, I never once cooked anything in it. So there goes that perceived benefit. Gas it is. I must say, it does look nice, and being able to point the remote at it and fire it up is nice, too. It should be sweet once Christmastime rolls around and it's getting below zero outside. Should have done this years ago, but at least by waiting we got the most energy-efficient unit available at this price range. We'll see if a warm fireplace hearth proves to be a kitty magnet.

The paint on our window trim is Sherwin William 2058 Barcelona Beige, oil-based. The new windows were put in by Greatland Construction. VPI Quality Windows - Synergy - Vinyl Frame - Double Glazed Argon - LoweE(0.025) - ZF - VPI-A-24. Energy Performance Rating U-Factor 0.28. Solar Heat Gain Coefficient 0.19. Visible Transmittance 0.43.

This is a story of No Hot Water. Over the last few days we had very little hot water. Our hot water system in the home has been a constant thorn in our sides, as it's entirely inadequate, and just, well, lame. We have a stainless steel tank which is heated by the same boiler which supplies our driveway melt system.

Shown here is a Taco 007-F5 circulator pump, priced at $78 or so at Amazon.com. In town, we have a plumbing place that has TV ads stating they'll be sure to sell you the right part. I go there, tell them I need a Taco 007-F5, even have it written down. The counter guy says they don't make those anymore, and I need the Taco 00R instead. Fine. I fork out $124 and change, and home I go. Install it, still no hot water. Argh. I was suspecting it was the zone valve anyway. The pump I took out was covered in crusty glycol crud anyhow, and it's been in there for 7 years, so I have no regrets changing it out.

Well, fine. I go to Home Depot and get a replacement zone valve, just like the one shown here from Amazon.com. I wasn't going back to the plumbing place. Forget that. Oh, and what do I see also at Home Depot? The Taco 007-F5 pump for $89 that plumbing guy says they don't manufacture anymore. Argh. The zone valve set me back $104 but hey, the house is back to having hot water, and I have more pump than I needed, but you know what? A hot shower sure beats a cold one!

View more photos It's been a while now since I completed our big remodel project. As promised though, here are a few photos to go through. Since I was home sick today, I had time to take a few snaps and post them. If I can ever dig up some old photos showing how the home looked with the old doors and carpet, I'll post those too. If I never do find those, think 70's dark walnut and worn-out cream colored carpet. It's much nicer now.

Kitchen Remodel Photos
After a couple months work on weekends and the occasional day off of work, the cabinets are done and the new countertops are in. Rather than pay for entirely new cabinets, I did a cabinet refacing myself. This consists of removing the old doors, applying a real oak veneer on the fronts of all the cabinets, and installing new oak doors. I believe the results were worth it. Are they as nice as brand new oak cabinets? No, of course not. But then, new cabinets for our kitchen would have easily been a $15k+ job. Going with the refacing, it was about $2200 or so. Might not have even been that much. Well worth it, and not a bad compromise between beauty and economy.

Deanna did a fine job of oiling the insides of the cabinets. I don't have a photo of the insides, but with the new outsides, the insides looked pretty blah. While consisting of solid plywood from years gone by, they needed some TLC. After she oiled 'em up, they looked real good.

The original countertops we had were somewhat problematic, the backsplash was separate from the horizontal surface, and water from the sink seeped into the joint, badly warping the wood. Those counters came out and we opted for a one-piece laminate in Deanna's favorite color. We're very happy with the countertops. I will be adding in a tile backsplash, but wanted to get some photos up now. So, browse the photos and enjoy.

Here is what we started with. Our old downstairs bathroom, pretty much torn out. The yellow walls, the warped laminate floor.

And after a month or so of working in the evenings and weekends, here is the result.

I don't have a "Before" photo of this shower, but imagine your classic 70's Disco Gold color. Now it's been refinished to a classic white finish.

Over the washer and dryer I built a set of storage cabinets, they came out pretty nice. Working with that melamine stuff, though, ugh. My hands ended up getting cut up with a load of scratches, the melamine edges are very sharp. But, the results were well worth it, the finish is durable, and the cabinets fit the space perfectly, something not available with off-the-shelf cabinets.

The door in this shot, I'll tell you now, hanging that door was easily the single most miserable part of the whole job. You'd think that an easy task, but oh no. No. I really couldn't get a good shot of the entire bathroom due to it's small size, but this is a pretty good shot.

And here is a closeup of that sink, with a glass tile backsplash.

Bet you don't know what this is, right? Neither did I until I ran into a little nightmare of my own doing. If you've read my previous entry about resurfacing our downstairs shower, you know it hasn't been easy. Anyhow, while removing the masking tape from the shower drain at the bottom of the shower, I decided, foolishly, to tug on a bit of silicon blobbing out from the edge of the drain. The whole ring of silicon came out. Argh. Well, I shot more silicon back in there to seal the drain, and waited a couple days. All looked well. As part of the overall re-do of the shower, I bought a satin nickel trim kit for the shower, which lead me to take off the part of the shower where the water knob (it's a Delta unit) attaches. Big mistake. Water started shooting out, and I had to run and shut down the main water supply.

Well, after shutting down the water, I was able to attach the trim kit, and get the water to the house back on. I run the shower a bit, and what do I see coming into the hallway? Water leaking out from the shower! Ugh. I mop it up, dry the area, and run the shower again. More water. Fine. I go to bed, and the next morning consider my options. I could replace the shower myself, or just pay the big bucks and have a plumber come in and do the job. I google "fix leaking shower drain", and find the beauty pictured here, the WingTite Shower Drain. I paid for 2nd Day Air, so I'll see if it does indeed show up in 2 days. With shipping it was a tad over $90. Will it work? I have no idea. It should.

Oh, yeah, I should mention. In the morning, when I ran the shower a lot, it didn't leak a bit. So, likely the water was from the initial fire hydrant effect when I removed the valve. Excess water shooting back behind the wall. But just in case, I want that WingTite around the home so if it truly is leaking from the drain, I've got the part to fix it on hand. This whole home re-do is turning into quite a test of patience. May God continue to shower His mercy on me so that my daughter may continue to shower in the shower! Amen.

First off, I don't have any before & after photos because I couldn't get a decent photo of the shower in our small bathroom.

As part of our downstairs bathroom re-do, I decided to change the good ol' 70's gold shower over to white. After pondering the options, I decided to cheap out and resurface the shower myself, using Klenk's Tub & Surround Refinishing Kit, which I picked up at Home Depot.

Our shower is a 32" wide 3-wall shower, the type one finds in a second bathroom. Small. Anyhow, the kit directions says there is enough there to do one tub or shower, so great, let's do this. I spend $34 and away we go. I start by cleaning the shower walls as directed, then I sand the walls. If you have ever sanded fiberglass before, you know it isn't fun. Anyhow, I get it all clean, and it's time to start mixing paint. Well, not quite. You see, the kit uses a two-part system, where you mix one can into another and wait an hour, which I do.

Okay, an hour has passed, let's paint. Using the included roller and following the directions, I start to roll the paint on the shower. And the results are a nightmare. The foam roller they give you doesn't roll, it just sort of skids along, smearing paint as it goes. There is a trick to this, as I would find later on.

Anyhow, the directions say you apply a coat, wait an hour, apply another coat, and so on. It says it might take up to three coats to cover a dark colored tub. Let me tell you what: First off, the can has enough paint to do a tub made for Barbie, not a tub made for humans. It didn't take one kit and three coats, it took three kits, a week's time, sanding out a load of sags and runs which I never did fully remove, and probably nine coats to get the tub a nice glossy white. But white it is, indeed. The finish appears to be very solid, like enamelware. One interesting difference is that the new finish has a sort of orange-peel texture, which for a shower is actually preferable to a slippery-smooth gloss. There are still a few runs in the final job, and it certainly doesn't pretend to look like a brand new tub, but looking at $125 versus the cost of replacing the whole shower, I think I'm happy with it. Only time will tell.

Oh yeah, I said I'd explain the trick of putting this stuff on. The directions say put on a thin coat. That ain't the half of it. They mean barely get the roller wet. I found using a big paint tray worked best. Keep the paint tray mostly dry, and roll the roller in there just enough to get it damp. As you roll out the paint, it will have an almost tacky feel as it goes on. That's the trick. The first time around, I had too much paint in the roller, and it skidded around instead of going on nicely. With each new coat of paint, the paint adheres better. Oh, yeah, buy extra foam roller pads at the store, too. The kit only comes with one roller, but you'll need more. The paintbrush in the kit is pretty handy for painting the soap dish, which is hopeless to try to roll out. Oh, and note, the paint has a positively evil smell. I suggest wearing a respirator and get a lot of ventilation going. Would I do this again? Well, maybe. I'll see how the finish holds.